Back to the Future star Thomas Wilson has created a video to help a VHS auction hit 88 mph.
In a video shared with The Hollywood Reporter, Wilson introduces his pristine shrink-wrapped VHS collection of the Back to the Future trilogy sent to him by studio MCA. It also includes a VHS copy of the documentary Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy, which was hosted by Kirk Cameron. “The feeling was overpowering to rip this open and watch that Kirk Cameron guy,” deadpanned Wilson, who played Biff (in various incarnations) in the trilogy.
The auction also includes individual shrink-wrapped copies of the Back to the Future films, including personal notes from late MCA boss Tom Pollock, who Wilson swears he was close with. Why else would the chief executive sign the notes with a “T” and then a dash?
The auction comes as VHS collecting has become more mainstream during the pandemic, with Heritage offering up its first ever VHS and Home Entertainment Signature auction. Part of it is fueled by nostalgia and a moment in time when movies, for the first time, were able to be in a person’s hands.
“This is just the beginning of the time when you could watch a movie as many times as you wanted to,” says Wilson. “You would get this VHS, put it in your VCR and watch it over and over and over and over again … and I’ve heard from many thousands of people around the world who did exactly that. When your friends came over, and Dad put this in the VCR … when you were (home) sick from school and there was Back to the Future, like an old friend — it’s been an amazing thing.”
Outside of Wilson’s offerings, some of the most coveted titles include Ghostbusters (currently sitting at $6,562.50), Jaws, Gremlins, Goonies (a Beta copy is already at $5,000), Star Wars, Friday the 13th and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The auction runs through June 9.